Back-packing Trip: Upper Twin, Bridgeport to Crown Lake

On Monday, July 23rd, my dad, my sister Kara, and I set out from Upper Twin in Bridgeport for Crown Lake. It was about a 9.3 mile day with approximately 2,650 feet in elevation gain.

Before we left for our trip, it had been getting pretty smoky due to wildfires nearby, however, we managed to escape the smoke most of the trip- it was hazy one day but not unbearable.

Barney Lake

At about 4 miles in from Mono Village at Upper Twin, we reached Barney Lake. I have done many day hikes to Barney (and many of the Mono Village campers and locals make the trek frequently as well) but I had never ventured passed it. From Upper Twin to Barney, you climb about 1,120 feet.

Dad, Kara, and I at Barney.

After passing Barney we came to this beautiful little waterfall sprinkled with wildflowers...

Not too much further we crossed Robinson Creek and then we crossed it again a little later on the trail.

Crossing Robinson Creek.

Just after we took a left at a fork in the trail, we came to this emerald pond. We had hiked a little under 9 miles gaining around 2,000 feet in elevation. My first thought when spotting this spring-fed lagoon was "jump in!"...

But instead, I waded in and this is about as far as I got. It was freezing cold!

This was such a refreshing sight to see.

After a brief lunch break by our verdant oasis, we continued on. 

We soon came to Robinson Lakes.

Robinson Lakes

Kara and Dad pose at Robinson Lakes.

At this point, we were about one mile or less from Crown Lake and storm clouds were gathering above us. 

When we caught our first glimpse of Crown Lake, it began to sprinkle on us.

Crown Lake

We hiked to the other side of Crown Lake to set up camp and passed this beautiful meadow. 

Of course we loved all of the pools, streams, marshes, waterfalls, and wildflowers... but along with those attractions came... mosquitoes!

Kara modeling her mosquito net.

 After we had set up our tent and rain fly, it began to rain steadily. So we huddled under the rain fly and napped for about an hour. It cleared up and we were able to spend some time at the lake that evening.

Dad with his catch.

These little guys were jumping like crazy in the evenings. It was fun to watch the lake continuously sprinkled with trout springing completely out of the water and listen to the constant sound of little splashes. Dad enjoyed catching and releasing them. 

Sunset the first evening at Crown Lake.

The next morning at breakfast... using my new Big Meadow Brewing Co. cup (Bridgeport now has a brewery!).

After breakfast, Kara and I settled in on some rocks by the lake and dad decided to take a walk around the lake. 

We spent all day laying out, wading in the water, and relaxing.

The following day, we went for a day hike to Rock Island Lake via Rock Island Pass. It was about 4 miles from our camp to Rock Island Lake.

When we arrived at the lake, the first thing I did was jump in! Granted, it was only a foot deep, but I still jumped. It is the warmest alpine lake I have ever been in- even temperature sensitive Kara took a dip!

I spotted hundreds of tadpoles with my goggles.

Tons of wildflowers with Rock Island Lake in the background.

On our way back to Crown Lake.

Looking down on the streams that feed into Crown Lake.

The last evening at Crown.

We spent a total of three nights at Crown Lake and had a great time exploring the area.

2 comments back-packing, camping, fishing, hiking, summer

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